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Sunday, January 24, 2016

Set Yourself Up for Success: Golden Rules of Goal Setting

Five Rules to Set Yourself Up for Success

Learn five techniques for setting effective goals.

Have you thought about what you want to be doing in five years' time?

Are you clear about what your main objective at work is at the moment?

Do you know what you want to have achieved by the end of today?

If you want to succeed, you need to set goals.

Without goals you lack
focus and direction.

Goal setting not only allows you to take control
of your life's direction; it also provides you a benchmark for
determining whether you are actually succeeding.

Think about it: Having a
million dollars in the bank is only proof of success if one of your
goals is to amass riches.

If your goal is to practice acts of charity,
then keeping the money for yourself is suddenly contrary to how you
would define success.

To accomplish your goals, however, you need to know how to set them.

You can't simply say, "I want" and expect it to happen.

Goal setting is a
process that starts with careful consideration of what you want to
achieve, and ends with a lot of hard work to actually do it.

In between
there are some very well defined steps that transcend the specifics of
each goal.

Knowing these steps will allow you to formulate goals that
you can accomplish.

Here are our five golden rules of goal setting:

1. Set Goals that Motivate You

Be sure that they are important to you, and that
there is value in achieving them.
If you have little interest in the
outcome, or they are irrelevant given the larger picture, then the
chances of you putting in the work to make them happen are slim.
Motivation is key to achieving goals.

Set goals that achieve your priorities. Without
this type of focus, you can end up with too many goals.

Goal achievement requires
commitment and focus.

Tip: To make sure your goal is motivating, write down why it's
valuable and important to you.

2. Set SMART Goals

Specific.

Measurable.

Attainable.

Relevant.

Time Bound.

Specific

Your goal must be clear and well defined. Vague or generalized goals
are unhelpful because they don't provide sufficient direction. Remember,
you need goals to show you the way. Make it as easy as you can to get
where you want to go by defining precisely where you want to end up.

Measurable

Include precise amounts, dates, and so on in your goals so you can
measure your degree of success. If your goal is simply defined as "To
reduce expenses" how will you know when you have been successful? In one
month's time if you have a 1 percent reduction or in two years' time
when you have a 10 percent reduction? Without a way to measure your
success you miss out on the celebration that comes with knowing you have
actually achieved something.

Attainable

Make sure that it's possible to achieve the goals you set. If you set
a goal that you have no hope of achieving, you will only demoralize
yourself and erode your confidence.

However, resist the urge to set goals that are too easy.
Accomplishing a goal that you didn't have to work hard for can be
anticlimactic at best, and can also make you fear setting future goals
that carry a risk of non-achievement. By setting realistic yet
challenging goals, you hit the balance you need. These are the types of
goals that require you to "raise the bar" and they bring the greatest
personal satisfaction.

Relevant

Goals should be relevant to the direction you want your life and
career to take. By keeping goals aligned with this, you'll develop the
focus you need to get ahead and do what you want. Set widely scattered
and inconsistent goals, and you'll fritter your time – and your life –
away.

Time-Bound

You goals must have a deadline. Again, this means that you know when
you can celebrate success. When you are working on a deadline, your
sense of urgency increases and achievement will come that much quicker.

3. Set Goals in Writing

The physical act of writing down a goal makes it real and tangible.
You have no excuse for forgetting about it. As you write, use the word
"will" instead of "would like to" or "might." For example, "I will
reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year," not "I would like
to reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year." The first
goal statement has power and you can "see" yourself reducing expenses,
the second lacks passion and gives you an excuse if you get sidetracked.

Tip 1:

Frame your goal statement positively. If you want to improve your
retention rates say, "I will hold on to all existing employees for the
next quarter" rather than "I will reduce employee turnover." The first
one is motivating; the second one still has a get-out clause "allowing"
you to succeed even if some employees leave.

Tip 2:

If you use a To-Do List, make yourself a To-Do List template that has your goals at the top of it. If you use an Action Program, then your goals should be at the top of your Project Catalog.

Post your goals in visible places to remind yourself every day of
what it is you intend to do. Put them on your walls, desk, computer
monitor, bathroom mirror or refrigerator as a constant reminder.

4. Make an Action Plan

This step is often missed in the process of goal setting. You get so
focused on the outcome that you forget to plan all of the steps that are
needed along the way. By writing out the individual steps, and then
crossing each one off as you complete it, you'll realize that you are
making progress towards your ultimate goal. This is especially important
if your goal is big and demanding, or long-term. Read our article on Action Plans for more on how to do this.

5. Stick With It

Remember, goal setting is an ongoing activity not just a means to an
end. Build in reminders to keep yourself on track, and make regular
time-slots available to review your goals. Your end destination may
remain quite similar over the long term, but the action plan you set for
yourself along the way can change significantly. Make sure the
relevance, value, and necessity remain high.

Key Points

Unless you clearly define exactly what you want and understandwhy you want it, your odds of success are considerably
reduced.

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Jennifer believes we live in the garden of Eden and I believe that we are destroying it. Our saving grace is within ourselves, our faith, and our mindfulness. We need to make a conscious effort to respect and preserve all life.

Live every day of your life.

Be Here Now.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate your mind on the present moment.

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My Blogs have been like a second hard drive to me.

My Blogs have been used as a second hard drive, in case of crashes in equipment. Google is a safe place to store information collected while surfing the WWW. If any content does not seem to adhere to Creative Commons Rules and you want it removed, please contact me to have it removed from the blog. Everything is true to the best of my knowledge.